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On October 21, 1958 RCA Victor ships "One Night" / "I Got Stung". On November 3rd Billboard lists "I Got Stung" at number 65 of their "Hot 100". It stayed on the chart for 16 weeks and reached number 8. "One Night" is included for the first time on November 10th. It had a run of 17 weeks and climbed from number 30 to number 4. On November 17th Billboard also listed "One Night" on their "Hot R&B Singles Chart". Here it had a run of 15 weeks and reached number 10. Finally the track entered the "Hot Country Singles" chart on December 22nd. It stayed for three weeks and peaked at number 24. The RIAA honored the domestic sales with a Gold Award (1983) and a Platinum Award (1992). When BMG re-released "One Night" / "I Got Stung" in 2005 (this time on compact disc), the single made it into the top 10s of Sweden, Ireland and The Netherlands and even became a number one hit in France. Globally RCA Victor sold 4 million units, which equals 600 million paid streams. At the time the calculation of the charts included sales, radio airplay and the oppinion of the buyers (some were asked which track made them buy the record). Because both songs were so strong, the radio stations played both of them and the fans also couldn't name a clear favorite. As a result both songs charted high, but none of them became a number one hit. On Spotify "One Night" clocks in at 23 million streams, "I Got Stung" was requested 4.5 million times.

For the design of the record sleeve a promo photo for "Jailhouse Rock" was used.

The single is not available on the streaming platforms, but both songs can be found on the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959).

 

One Night

On January 18, 1957 Elvis recorded "One Night Of Sin" at the Paramount Soundstage in Hollywood/California. The decision makers at RCA thought, the song by Dave Bartholomew and Pearl King was way too raunchy and so the lyrics were changed. The rock'n'roll king taped the new version on February 23, 1957 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood/California. Even though he already knew the song, he needed ten takes to get it right. While the narrator was blaming himself for a night of excesses in the original version, he now simply wants to spend a night with his loved one. Back in the 50s of the previous century even this was a risky statement, but at least more acceptable than a report of sexual escapades. It took RCA until the early 1980s to finally release "One Night Of Sin" on the album "A Legendary Performer - Volume 4". "One Night" can be found on the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959), on the ep "A Touch Of Gold - Volume 2" (1959) and on the boxed set "The Other Sides - Worldwide Gold Award Hits Volume 2" (1971). A live recording can be heared on the longplayer "Elvis" (1968).

I Got Stung

This one is a straight rock'n'roll song, written by Aaron Schroeder and David Hill. The singer is in love and declares to have been stung by a sweet honey bee. Elvis recorded "I Got Stung" on June 11, 1958 at RCA Studio B in Nashville/Tennessee within 24 takes. A year after the release on this single the track was included on the album "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Elvis' Gold Records Volume 2" (1959), a decade later it was re-issued on the boxed set "Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits - Volume 1" (1970).

 

Verdict

Without doubt "One Night" / "I Got Stung" belongs to the classics of the Presley catalogue.

 (C) RCA Victor